You may be wondering why, as a walking guide in Provence, I'm writing to you about my cycling expeditions in Alsace. Though I still prefer my beloved Provence, and wouldn't trade it for all the baguettes and Camemberts in France, my travels keep proving how wonderfully beautiful and diverse a country this is.
I was in Alsace a month ago, nearing the end of October. Based in the quaint towns of Bergheim and Kaysersberg, I set out every day by bike, exploring country roads through reputed vineyards. It was nearing the end of the grape harvest, the vines all yellowish gold, planted in strict geometric parcels that cover the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. Below is a bunch of Gewurztraminer grapes, one of the last of the varietals picked, often left longer on the vines to produce a sweet late-harvest wine. I have to admit that I ate quite a few whenever the opportunity arose, enough sugar to propel me from town to town. This was mainly to counteract the effects of the wine tasting I did along the way. Dozens of family-run wine estates in and around each town, in centuries' old cellars, always welcoming. Most estates produce each of the seven types of wines, the only region in France to produce wines by varietal and not by blending.
I enjoyed the Gewurztraminers the most, with their aromas of ripe exotic fruit and sweet taste.
The Alsatian villages seem to pop out of a fairy tale book: colourful half-timbered homes snuggled side-by-side, ancient bridges and cobbled streets, old city walls still intact. Their names, often ending in "heim" or "berg" or "wihr", attest to a past under German rule. In the streets you can still hear the language of Alsatian spoken, while the accent in French has a distinct Germanic tone. Below is a picture of the town of Kaysersberg, picturesque and welcoming.
A few of the half-timbered homes in Bergheim below. Bergheim is off the beaten tourist track, full of charm and with a wonderful little hotel to stay in as a base.
Below are some of the reputed vineyards, which is what made up the backdrop of most of the scenery during the week. Unlike Provence, some of the tracks in between the vineyards are actually paved or cemented, and off-limits to motorized vehicles: a paradise for cyclists. There's a downside to cycling in the region though: the vineyards stretch out as a very thin line along the foothills of the Vosges mountains. A bit to the west and you have to tackle some killer hills in the mountains, a bit to the east you are in the Rhine valley, with relatively uninteresting scenery and extremely busy roads. So you more or less have to stay within that thin line, and sometimes even cycle out and back along the same itinerary, but well worth it nonetheless.
Part of the planned itinerary does leave the vineyards, down to the cornfield and forested flatlands of the Rhine valley. Here the scenery changes abruptly. You can find little hidden side roads where you won't see a single car all day, through vast expanses of forest (at least by French standards). Below is a picture taken along one of those roads.
Some grapes being picked during my last day of cycling...
